“Now that their top leadership has been taken out, if there’s ever a time for the people to rise up against this theocracy, I would think the conditions are set,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital on Friday.

McCaul was part of a group of lawmakers in the Middle East late last month. Part of that trip was in Israel, where the congressional delegation met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others.

Opportunities don’t come along like this very often, the senior lawmaker said.

“I think this is the perfect opportunity – it would have been better if, I don’t know what level of coordination took place, but I mean, when an event like this happens – to have this theocracy that’s in power, out of power, and liberate the people of Iran,” McCaul said. “The majority do not like the Ayatollah. There’s a real opportunity for that to just end.”

He also took a hard line on social media:

President Trump gave Iran every chance to negotiate in good faith and to dismantle their nuclear program.

Prime Minister Netanyahu was also clear: The alternative to diplomacy would be strikes on Iran — a message he reiterated to me when I met with him this month. Unfortunately,…

— Michael McCaul (@RepMcCaul) June 13, 2025

Prime Minister Netanyahu was also clear: The alternative to diplomacy would be strikes on Iran — a message he reiterated to me when I met with him this month. Unfortunately, the regime chose not to take the path of peace — to prioritize their own interests over their people’s.